I Told You That I Would Fight For You
by WritingIsTheMostFun
Summary: When Sam told Mercedes that he would fight for her, she didn't think he meant it in the literal sense of the word.


**A/N: Greetings, readers! This is just a little oneshot that popped into my head after watching "Hold On to Sixteen." Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.**

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><p>"Sam, you can't pull away every time I try to clean your cut. That defeats the purpose," Mercedes said, exasperated at the amount of times Sam moved within the last five minutes. "Though, if you hadn't gone and gotten yourself into a fight, you wouldn't be in this situation in the first place," she muttered.<p>

"Mercedes, I told you that I'd fight to get you back. That includes physically." Sam forced himself to hold still as Mercedes gently wiped the rest of the blood from the cut above his eye.

"Yes, but regardless of what lengths you're willing to go to, you shouldn't have done this. It's not worth it if means that you'll show up on my doorstep in a bloody mess." Mercedes still couldn't quite believe that she was tending to Sam's wounds in the middle of her kitchen.

During that afternoon's rehearsal session, Mercedes vaguely wondered where Sam had disappeared to. But she couldn't dwell on it too much since they were working so hard in preparation for Regionals. However, her answer was provided in the form of Sam sitting on her doorstep with a black eye, a bloody nose, and bruised knuckles.

"'Cedes, you're worth everything and more, to me." Sam looked up at Mercedes out of the corner of his eye. "If it means that I have to take a bit of a beating for you to see that, then I don't mind. Besides," Sam said, with a grin. "This is nothing. I dished out way more than I got."

Mercedes could only sigh and shake her head. She felt a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips but forced herself to suppress it. The last thing she wanted to do was give Sam the idea that she condoned his fighting, no matter the reason. She continued to clean Sam's cuts as an uneasy silence fell between them.

At the start of her senior year, had someone told Mercedes that she'd be in her kitchen, tending to Sam Evans' wounds from fighting over her, she would have laughed in their face at the sheer ridiculousness of such a notion. Yet, that's exactly what was happening and frankly, Mercedes wasn't sure how to handle it.

After Sam left Ohio, Mercedes threw herself into every activity she came across. She invested almost all of her time in working with the kids at Lima's performing arts camp. When Mercedes wasn't working, she was getting a head start on applications to various universities and scholarships.

Then, when she'd met Shane towards the end of the summer, Mercedes simply fallen into a relationship with him, slightly concerned that she might not get another chance at happiness. And she was happy, she'd told herself. But now, with Sam so close to her, it was a lot more difficult to believe.

"Mercedes, look at me," Sam said quietly. She didn't. Instead, Mercedes kept her gaze determinedly fixed on the cut that she was cleaning along Sam's jaw. Sam sighed and gently grabbed Mercedes' wrist, forcing her to stop.

Mercedes hesitantly met Sam's eyes and struggled not to fidget under the intensity of his stare. After all of these months, all of the feelings and memories that Mercedes fought to ignore came rushing back with startling force. She remembered everything as though it happened yesterday.

She recalled Sam's nervous- smile as he slightly stumbled over his words while asking her out on a date. She could tell that he was a little intimidated by her sass. But she appreciated the fact that he didn't let that stop him.

She remembered the way he'd made her laugh to the point of tears with his many impressions of celebrities and their own friends.

Mercedes took a deep breath as she remembered the way her heart fluttered when they'd held hands for the first time. How they'd sent each other shy smiles and quickly looked away when they caught the other's eye.

Sometimes, when she closed her eyes, Mercedes could still feel the way her lips tingled when she and Sam kissed for the first time.

"Don't try to tell me that you don't feel anything for me any more." Sam's voice broke through Mercedes' impromptu trip down memory lane. "I never got over you and if the look on your face right now is any indication, you never got over me either."

"Sam," Mercedes sighed and tried to figure out what she wanted to say. Truth be told, Sam was right. But she couldn't just leap right back into his arms and she told him as much.

"Okay, so you're right. I still have feelings for you. But we can't go back to the way things were so soon."

"And why is that?"

"Well, for one thing, I have to consider Shane..."

"Shane? Are you serious?" Sam stood up and walked over to the sink to rinse off his bloody knuckles. When he turned around, toweling his hands off, he fixed Mercedes with a look that told her that he clearly didn't buy her excuse.

"'Cedes, if I remember correctly, you broke up with him two days ago. Now, tell me, why would you do something so drastic if you were completely happy with him? It also explains my current condition."

"Okay, fine, I broke up with him. But I can't just start dating you only a few days later. That's awful. Besides, don't you even start trying to make this out to be my fault. I never wanted any of this to happen in the first place."

Sam put the towel down and walked back over to Mercedes. He stopped just short of her and Mercedes had to keep herself from simply leaning into his warmth. She may have come to terms that she still wanted to be with Sam, but she knew that they would have to take things one step at a time.

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty about anything," Sam replied softly. "I knew what I was getting myself into. This little scuffle," Mercedes snorted at Sam's understatement. "Was just another step in me proving to you that I never stopped caring about you."

"And I never stopped caring about you, Sam. And, I suppose that I'm not completely against us getting back together." The smile that broke across Sam's face convinced Mercedes that she'd made the right decision. "However, before you start jumping for joy, we're going to have to take things very, very slowly. I don't want this to be another fling."

Sam stepped forward, finally closing the gap between the two of them, and simply held Mercedes. They sighed into the embrace, taking the time to relearn the simple pleasure that came from being in one another's arms.

Sam pulled back slightly and whispered. "Neither do I."

He leaned in to kiss Mercedes and, for that moment, nothing else mattered. While their lips brushed sweetly against each other, neither Sam nor Mercedes cared to focus on anything but the familiar feeling that they'd gone without for too many months.

Mercedes pulled back, although reluctantly, and smiled at Sam's small pout.

"Come on, lover boy, if we're going to be together, I can't have you dying from infected cuts. Let me finish cleaning you up."

"Whatever you say, Miss Jones." Sam smiled as Mercedes rolled her eyes at his cheekiness.

Sam's eyes never left her face and Mercedes' smile never faltered as she finished cleaning him up. Though she'd never admit it out loud, Mercedes couldn't help the happiness that she felt at the thought that she had someone who would fight for her.

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><p><strong>AN: And that's a wrap, folks. Don't hesitate to let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!**


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